Occupy Central helped Dr Ko Wen-je win Taipei ballot, campaign chief says
Occupy Central indirectly contributed to the election victory of independent Dr Ko Wen-je by inspiring Taipei students to support him, the mayor-elect's campaign chief says.
Occupy Central indirectly contributed to the election victory of independent Dr Ko Wen-je by inspiring Taipei students to support him, the mayor-elect's campaign chief says.
While Saturday's ballots in Taiwan largely reflected public dissatisfaction with the Ma Ying-jeou administration, campaign director Wu Yen-hong said the Hong Kong movement did provide some motivation.
"We encountered some technical problems in the recruitment of volunteers at polling stations," he said.
"Before Occupy Central, more than 1,000 volunteers had signed up to help out outside polling stations. But later the Central Election Commission told us to find 1,583 people within five days to supervise vote-counting inside the stations. At that time we thought it was an impossible task for an independent candidate.
"But coincidentally, Occupy Central started in Hong Kong. We posted recruitment notices on the BBS [bulletin board system] of the National Taiwan University. Within just three days, our volunteer team expanded to 3,000-strong ... We feel there were mutual influences between Taipei and Hong Kong students."
While Ko was helped by pan-green parties that agreed not to field a contender for the seat, Lien was backed by businessmen - many with mainland interests.